POWELL V. BARRY.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 319, 10 April 1875, Page 3

POWELL V. BARRY.

lii Justice to Mr. Barry, we insert his explanation of the late «ase at Queenstown, in which he appeared as, joint defendant:— (To the Editor of the ' Wakatvp Mail. 1 J' '•'Sir, —I was not permitted, by the rules of the Court, to make a statement when I was honorably acquitted by Mr. Beetham, R.M., and the Mayor, of a crime laid to my charge by one Denis •Powell, of this town, who unites the calling of auctioneer and publican together. The crime laid to my chance was that of stealing a lot of old things not worth Bs. indeed, no one would pick them up it he saw them lying in a right-of-way. Yet, this Denis Powell was allowed by law to file a criminal information against myself for theft of this worthless rubbish, and to subject me to the indignity of arrest first, 'and imprisonment while the case was pending. He was allowed to so file his information as an indictable offence, that if a prima facie case had been made out against me I would have had to make my defence before a jury at Dunedin. It is nothing to the point, that the Magistrates,' consisting of the Resident Magistrate and the Mayor, decided that '■ there was not a shadow of a case against me." I am not going to descant upon, the painful and wearisomeproceedings which extended over several days. ■ T should very much like to 6ee reported the full evidence takt-n, though the prosecutor denied having used loaded dice in his house, or that it was a scene of

disgrace. I know the history of the other side, but was not allowed by law to put in any defence. There was no defence given, the information being dismissed upon the evidence produced by-the prosecutor. Thus the other view is entirely hidden from the public, and I was not eyen allowed to vindicate my character. Not only this, but, with a fiendishness of purpose, telegrams have been forwarded to various papers, giving an untruthful and one-sided version of the matter. The prosecutor is at least afraid of public opinion, as he resorts to the expense of lengthened telegrams to make good his view ot the matter, and thus further malign me if possible." I say that it is monstrous, that a man like myself, over fifty years of age, who has been in the colony for .forty years, who his never during that period been charged with an offence against the laws of his country, who has been elected and reelected Mayor of Cromwell, who has served her Majesty honorably and faithfully, who has acquired, by honest exer-' tions, fortunes, which have been again lost in endeavoring;to foster Colonial industries. I say, Sir, it is monstrous that he should be arrested; imprisoned; tried, and yet, except through the columns of the Press, not be allowed to give his - version of the case. " Permit me then to state a few facts. I assert that the quarrel between Denis Powell and myself arose through my de manding payment for services rendered I stated this in the civil case of myself v Powell, a claim for goods sold and services rendered. I also stated in the same case that false dice had been," used for play in the hotel that bears his name. That is by no means a new or novel charge. It has before formed the subject of investigation by the Courts here. ' Because I asked him' for a settlement of accounts and told him some unpleasant truths he, when my hands were- in my pocket, suddenly struck me in the eye. I sued him for £SO, damages for this assault, and it was toavoid the just effects of this action that an information was filed against me." I assert, as another tact, that the one article on which so much stress was laid, namely, an old counterpane, which had seen—according to the evidence of.Mary Ann Powell "ten years of service"—was my own property, and had never been out of my possession for as many .years. As to the anti-macassars, I had'evidence to prove that they were my.daughter's. I could offer nothing of this in defence, nothing to prove my innocency of the crime laid to my charge ; yet a man like Denis Powell can put all the terrors and hardships of the law in force and cause me to be locked up in a gaol in which no one would put his horse if possible. I shall have something .further to say, in this matter in another place. I now assert, as the last fact I shall trouble you with, that both myself and' Charlotte .Sloan are, in my honest opinion, the victims of a hideous and vile conspiracy, and that-ere long means will be forthcoming to unravel and unfold if As daylight follows darkness this will, one day, "be assuredly proved. Till then, I ask the public to believe that the sympathy .that has been expressed on my behalf and -that of Charlotte Sloan is not misplaced. I ask that public to deal out even handed justice, and to pass by as untruthful the malignant reports forwarded to the Dunedin and ' Dunstan Times.' These will have to.be answered and atoned for hereafter. "The action to be tried next Thursday will further explain matters.—l am, Sir, &c, " William Jackson Barry." " Queenstown, 30th March."